Annealing apparatus



Dec. 7 g 1926. 1,610,041 v F. T. COPE ANNEALING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 23. 1925 gva/vento@ Patented Dec. 7, 1926.

UNITED STATES d l1,610,04l

PATENT oFElcE.

FRANK T. COPE, OF SALEM, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRIC FURNACE COMPANY, 0F SALEM, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

ANNEALING APPARATUS.

Application filed February 23, 1925. Serial No. 10,985.

apparatus, which passes through the back of the furnace. To discharge the annealed material from the furnace, the cable mechanism is reversed and the pan is withdrawn through the same door through which it entered the furnace. Due to the vexcessive wear upon these steel pans the upkeep upon the same is considerable. It is also found that coils of brass or copper are -usually seriously oxidized and frequently warped by the weight of other coils 'resting upon the same. side of the pan receive more heat than those in the center, frequently resulting in burned stock near the outside of the pan Aand underannealed stock at the center of the pan.

The object of the above improvement is to provide an apparatus which will elimi- -nate the above objections andI which will evenly and uniformly anneal the coils of metal strips or Wire without oxidizing.

The above and other objects may be attained by providing a transformer having only a primary coil, a portion of the core being movable to permit a coil of metal strip or wire to be placed upon the core, whereby the coil of material will act as the secondary coil of the transformer and will be'heated by the current passing through the same.

Means may be provided for clamping vall of the turns of the coil of material together and if desired, a closed container may be provided around the transformer core to re ceive the coil of material to be annealed and the container may be kept under a reducingl or non-oxidizing atmosphere by the introduction of a suitable reducing or inert gas. An apparatus embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, 1n which,

Figure l, is a plan sectional view through the improved annealing apparatus;

The coils nearest the out# Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view of the same. and

F ig. 3, a detailed perspective view of one of the clamping heads.

Similar numerals refer to similar `parts throughout the drawing.

The apparatus includes a transformer having a core provided with the stationary U-shaped portion having the spaced up-` right arms l and 2 and the movable arm 3 hinged to the upper end of the arm 1 as at 4 and arranged to normally. contact with the upper end of the arm 2.

The primary coil 5 is Wound around the stationary arm l of the core, any desired number of turns being provided. A tank or container 6 surrounds the stationary arm 2 of the core and is supported in substantially the position shown in Fig. 2, upon the base 7, a removable cover 8 being provided `lpon the top of said container.

A sleeve 9, of alundum or similar nonconducting material. surrounds the coil 2 of the transformer and is spaced therefrom to permit an air blast to be directed up between said core and the sleeve in the event it is necessary to cool the transformer core.

The coil of metal strip or wire to be annealed is adapted to be placed within the tank or container 6, surrounding the sleeve 9, asl indicated at l0. The lid 8 is then placed upon the receptacle and the hinged arm 3 of the core is lowered into contact with the arm 2, as shown in Fig. 1, and the current passed through the primary coil 5, the coil of material 10 acting as the secondary coilJof the transformer and being heated to the proper temperature for annealing.

For the purpose of preventing oxidizing of the material under treatment, or to remove any scale which may be present upon thematerial, a reducing or non-oxidizing atmosphere may be maintained within the tank by admitting a reducing or inert gas to the same.

ln order that the coil of material under treatment may constitute only a single turn of the' secondary winding, it is desirable to clamp the .several convolutions of the coil together, preferably at points adjacent to the inner and outer ends of the coil of material, in order that no ortion of the material remains unanneale ln order to accomplish this(u clamping action, two clamping devices an arc of substantially 180 degrees, whereby, regardless of the re ative positions of the 'inner and outer ends of the coil, the material may be clamped at these points.

For the purpose of illustration, I have shown a pair of fluid cylinders 11 and 12, the

cylinder 11 being preferabl mounted upon a stationary bracket 13 an the cylinder 12 being carried upon a bracket 14, arranged to be slidably rotated upon the casing 15 located inthe bottom of the tank 6, and covering substantiall 180 degrees.

Each of the cylin ers is provided with a plunger i6, having a clamping head 17 of heat resisting alloy adapted to engage the coil of material, and preferably Iprovided with an electrical heating element 18 for keeping the head at proper tem erature to overcome any chilling effect o the head when placed against the coil of material. This electrical heating element may be .discontinued after the, apparatus has been working for some time and the heads have come up substantially to the temperature of the coil.

A Huid pipe 19 communicates with each end of each cylinder, a four way valve 20 controllinor the flow of fluid to the cylinder whereby the clamping head may be extended or retracted as desired. A iiange 21 is mounted rigidly upon the inner end of each cylinder bracket and arranged to engage the inner surface of the coil of material which l is clamped between said anges and the at all times by meansof the plate 22carried by the supporting bracket for the cylinder. 12

It will be obvious that in an apparatus of this kind it is necessary that no metal excepting that under treatment form a Complete circle'or ring about the transformer core, in order to prevent heavy induced currents from being set up in such metal. For this reasonthe casting 15 is .not continuous about the core 2 and the steel tank 6 has an insulating joint 23 which interrupts the continuity ofithe electrical currentl at the top, sides and bottom of the tank.

I claim:

1. An annealing apparatus including \a core having a U-shaped portion, a primary winding upon one arm o the U-shaped portion2 the other arm thereof beinfr arranged to receive, in inductive relation thereto, acoil of material ,to be annealed,and means `for clamping the coill of material transversely.

2. An `annealing apparatus including a core having a U-shaped portion, a primary winding upon one arm of the U-shaped portion the other arm thereof being arranged to receive, in inductive relation thereto, a coil of material to be annealed, and. means for clamping the coil of material. transversely at each end of the coil.

3. YAn annealin ap aratus including a core having a U-s aped) portion, a primary winding upon one-arm of the U-shaped portion, the other arm thereof being arranged to receive, ininductive relation thereto, a coil of material `to be annealed, a stationary clampingv head for clamping the coil of materal transversely at one end of the coil and aA movable clamping head for clamping the cgil offmaterial transversely at the other end t creo f 'In testimony that I claim the above, Ifhave I hereunto subscribed my nameid,

FRANK T. corn. 

